Bill to fund Workforce Development passes legislature, goes to governor

Lawmakers acted Thursday to preserve funding for Iowa Workforce Development that was imperiled earlier this month by a state Supreme Court Ruling.

The House voted 92-0 to pass a bill allocating $8.67 million for the department, which provides unemployment services and administers the state’s workers’ compensation and labor functions. The bill now goes to Gov. Terry Branstad to be signed into law.

The bill renews the legal authority to spend money that was originally appropriated last year and which is being spent in the current fiscal year. The original spending bill approved last June was invalidated by the state Supreme Court earlier this month.

The controversy arose – and the lawsuit was filed – last summer after Branstad used the line-item veto to remove language from the original bill that forbade him from closing unemployment offices. After removing the language, his administration closed 36 of the offices.

The court found that action unconstitutional, because the line-item veto is meant to remove spending authority from budget bills, not the constraints that lawmakers place on how the money is to be spent.

Branstad’s veto forced the court to invalidate the entire Workforce Development appropriation, leaving the department without the legal authority to spend money and setting up this week’s move to craft the new spending bill.

Thursday’s vote in the House, which followed approval in the Senate on Wednesday, ensures that there will be no disruption of funding for Workforce Development or in the services it provides.